Tuesday, August 31, 2010

August 31

OT: Job 37:1-39:30

Elihu goes on and on and on, and finally, God interrupts him.

God then unleashes a torrent of words at Job, a series of questions designed to show Job what the difference is between him and God. God asks, "Did you do this," "Do you know this," "Were you there when," and the answer is always no. My favorite question is in verse 38:36:

"Who endowed the heart with wisdomor gave understanding to the mind?"

The bottom line for those who believe in God is that every ounce of your logic and understanding comes from Him. When we rail against God or accuse Him of unfairness or injustice, we are using the mental tools that He created. Ultimately then, it just strikes me as useless to rail against God's "unfairness." I believe wholeheartedly in questioning Him in order to learn and to understand Him, but I fully understand that my very means of questioning Him is a gift from Him.

NT: 2 Cor. 4:13-5:10

I love verses 16-18:

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving a for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

LOVE it. It is always a good reminder that my biggest worries and worst fears are actually "light and momentary troubles." In those times, it is such a comfort to think about heaven, where all the suffering on earth will have passed away.

I also love the analogy of our bodies being a tent. Since right now I happen to have a splitting headache, I am very much in agreement with such an analogy:).

Psalm 44:9-26

David sounds very much like Job today, questioning God's harsh treatment even though "we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant" (17). He ends by begging God to help him.

Proverbs 22:13

Apparently, this is a proverb about a lazy person's excuses not to go outside.

3 comments:

I really love that proverb. I think it applies to so many situations in life that we fear. The proverb is humerous by making a ridiculous statement. There is obviously not a lion in the street. But, it points out that we create false reasons for avoiding what we ought to do.

I find myself reciting this proverb to myself when those around tell me why I shouldn't move my family to a third world country. Usually their fears are irrational and discount the sovreignty of our God. They tell me that we will contract diseases or that my children will suffer for a lack of education. These excuses are akin to the sluggard claiming that there is a lion in the streets. I'm sure it could happen, but as a God-fearing woman I need to put these foolish fears aside and trust God with all of myself (including my physical safety).